Hao Nguyen, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Urology, has been appointed the Richard and Leilani Grinold Endowed Professorship in Urology. The Richard Grinold Fund was established in 2009 by Richard and his wife, Leilani Grinold. Richard Grinold is a well-respected and forward thinker in research innovations and thoughtful leadership in his field. Funds from the professorship will support Nguyen’s research, teaching and service activities in advancing urologic oncology.
Dr. Nguyen was born and raised in Vietnam for the first decade of his life. His own path from war-torn Vietnam to one of the world best teaching hospital (UCSF) was not easy. He was part of a wave of refugees who fled Vietnam between 1978 and 1995. Dr. Nguyen received his MD and PhD degrees from Boston University and completed his Urology residency at University of California, Davis and fellowships in urologic oncology at UCSF under Drs. Meng and Carroll.
Dr. Nguyen is a surgeon - scientists whose primary research focus is in the understanding the adaptive response pathways that prostate cancer cells use to evade cell death when they are under the selective pressure of chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
Recent research activities have included the integral multi-institutional collaborative study of PSMA PET imaging techniques to detect the location of prostate cancer cells earlier and more effectively than current imaging techniques. These studies resulted in FDA approval for this technique. He is currently helping to lead a phase one trial at UCSF looking at intraoperative PSMA fluorophore to enhance direct visualization and removal of microscopic cancerous tissues outside the prostate during robotic surgery which, otherwise, would not have been seen.
“Endowed professorships, such as the Richard and Leilani Grinold Endowed Professorship in Urology help us to recruit, to support and to retain the Department of Urology’s most important asset -- its talented faculty,” says Dr. Raj S. Pruthi, Professor of the Department of Urology. “These gifted faculty allow us to be one of the leading urology departments in the world.We are grateful to the Grinold’s for their support for our mission of advancing urologic care.”